Summit Notebook

As the global economic turmoil rages on and shows no sign of abating, Genpact Chief Executive Pramod Bhasin believes “wait and watch” is the flavour of the season for business process outsourcing firms.

India has seen 9 percent-plus economic growth for the past three years and many thought it would remain relatively immune to the global financial crisis and the subsequent slowdown. But its stock market has tumbled 50 percent this year and all the signs point to a sharper slowdown than most were anticipating.

Corporate expansion plans, capital raising and partial privatisations by the government have all had to go on hold as investors, foreign and domestic, have run scared before the storm which has ripped through financial markets worldwide. Politicians too face a tough year, with national elections due in early 2009 and millions of voters for whom a first car, apartment or refrigerator is once again moving out of reach.

What does all this mean for India’s transformation into an Asian powerhouse? Will it set the country’s infrastructure and commercial development back several years or is it just a blip?

Some of the country’s most influential figures will discuss these topics and their own firms’ plans to ride out the slowdown at the Reuters India Investment Summit, which will generate a package of exclusive stories, online videos, blogs and analysis.

Worried that Indian curbs on participatory notes will slow the influx of foreign capital into India? Relax, says Naina Lal Kidwai, Country Head of HSBC India. Overseas money will continue to chase rapidly growing Indian corporates, which the world regards as “safe heaven” bets amid global uncertainty, she said at the Reuters India Investment Summit in Mumbai on Thursday.

Think you know what the future holds for big pharmaceutical firms and their generic counterparts? Think again, says Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd Chief Executive Malvinder Singh, who believes a sea change is underway that will blur those lines and reshape the industry.